Pokemon KEN
by yohan.duran.39
Summary: The Story of OC trainers in the new Kalos Region. Adventure only, no romance.
1. Chapter 1

Pokemon KEN

Chapter 1: Showdown

"And now introducing our next coordinator!"  
The crowd roared as the tall woman walked to the center of the stadium.  
"Please give her a warm welcome" said the announcer.  
The spotlight focused only on her. High above her head she held out a Pokeball.

"Hey"

She tossed it into the air.

"S'cuse me"

And out of the ball shot out a bright flashing Poke-  
"Excuse me!" The TV turned off and Erika snapped back to reality.

"Erika! What have I told you about watching TV at work. Now tend to the customer!"  
The chef yelled from a small window that connected the kitchen and the counter.

"Sorry Benny" said the teenage girl. She angrily turned from the kitchen and faced the counter.  
"Excuse me! can I get some water. I've been waiting here forever" a man and his wife sat in a booth across the restaurant looking furious.  
"Sorry be right there" said Erika while filling the water glasses. As she filled them she scanned the room. There was one other customer in the cafe.  
He was a tall man in a trench coat who had ordered coffee earlier. He was just typing away on a laptop quietly.

The chime at the doorway rang.  
A blonde, spiky haired teenager (slightly older than her) walked in.  
"Welcome" greeted Erika while taking the water to the couple. "Please sit anywhere" He walked up and sat at the counter chairs.  
She hurried back behind the counter. "So what will it be sir" she took out a notepad from her apron pocket.  
"Just a juice" he said as he scanned the menu.  
"You got it"

Erika went to the juice machine. She peaked into the kitchen on her way.  
"here you go" she sat the glass on the table and as the boy took a straw she grabbed the remote control and turned on the tv.  
The guy looked up.  
"That's last years Kalos grand festival right?"  
"Yup!" she squealed excitedly "last years winner had the most beautiful pokemon but they were so strong too. That's the best thing about pokemon coordinators, they raise the prettiest and toughest Pokemon. Not only that they also yap yap yap...

" Geez sorry I asked" thought the boy.

"Sounds like you're really into Pokemon contests" he said.  
Her excitement increased "They're the best! I'd love to be a Pokemon coordinator"  
"So what are you doing waiting tables?"  
"Well" she turns and starts washing cups in the sink "I can't afford a Pokemon license so I got this job to save up money. My family doesn't really like Pokemon so they wont help"  
The room grew quiet.  
"What's your name?" he asked  
"Erika" she looked over her shoulder at him "What's yours?"  
"Kyle. Nice to meet you"

The chime at the doorway rang again. A gang of loud teenagers dressed in black leather and piercings made their way into the cafe and sat themselves wherever they wanted. They were screaming and laughing loudly. The angry couple at the booth looked spooked and quietly made their way out. The man in the trench coat was unfazed.  
"He-Hello" Squeaked Erika

"Hey girl!" shouted the tallest teenager with a large red mohawk.  
"Soda pop all round!" The rest of the gang cheered at his demand.

Kyle went back to his drink while Erika got a handful of soda bottles and walked towards the table with the gang leader.  
"Here you go" she said with a smile. "Can I get you a menu?"  
"How bout your number instead" he said with a mischievous smile. The gang 'Ooohed'  
"I'll just get you some menus" she was dying to get away. As she started, he stood up.  
"Come now baby don't you know who I am? The name's Damien. Leader of the Dark Murkrows" the gang cheered at the mention of their name.  
"Not to mention" he continued "future Pokemon champ" he twirled a Pokeball on his index finger.

"Um" Erika was too frightened to move "That's nice"  
"Now about those digits" He put his arm around her.  
"How bout you lay off" the gang looked over to the counter where Kyle had stood up facing Damien.  
"What you say punk?" screamed Damien.  
"What girl wants to date some two-bit trainer like you" said Kyle. Erika noticed that Kyle's face was colder and harsher than before.

'What you say" said a random gang member  
"Lets take care of him" said another.

"No" said Damien. "So punk you think you can take me? fine lets battle"  
Kyle grinned "Deal, and if I win you and your 'friends' are banned from here got it?"  
Damien grinned back "Fine and If I win, our pretty little mama here has to go on a date with me"  
"What?!" Squeaked Erika. "Why me?"  
"Deal" snapped Kyle.  
"But But-" Erika looked at Kyle intently  
"Relax" Kyle smiled at her.

Outside the cafe in the street the road was the battlefield. On one side stood Kyle with Erika by his side. On the other stood the gang, all gathered around Damien. The man in the trench coat stood inside watching the event through the windows.  
"Let's do this punk!" Damien held out his Pokeball "Golem, Crush him!"  
The pokeball summoned the large rock Pokemon Golem to Damiens side.  
"Ha bet your not so tough now"  
Kyle held his own pokeball and threw it "Go"  
the ball summoned a Sneasel. It stood poised and confident with its arms crossed.  
"wow what cool Pokemon" whispered Erika.  
"Dont worry" Kyle turned to her. "I will win"  
Erika gulped.

"Lets get this rolling! Golem Rollout"  
Golem curled into a ball and rolled towards Sneasel with intense speed.  
"Dodge" ordered Kyle  
Sneasel dove out of the way as Golem passed it.  
"Now metal claw!"  
Golem uncurled. Thats when Sneasel came in with glowing claws and slashed the rock Pokemon hard.  
"What the-" Damien was awestruck "Your pipsqueak Pokemon knows a steel type move!"  
"Another metal claw!" Sneasel was slashing back and forth landing massive hits on Golem.  
"Golem! Body slam!"Golem was about to slam its body down on Sneasel  
"Icy wind" ordered Kyle. Sneasel blew a gust of cold air from its mouth. The gust hits Golem dead on and thrusts Sneasel away from Golem's attack.  
"Stay still!" shouted Damien.  
"Hey mowhawk" Said Kyle.  
Everyone looked at Kyle. "Arrogant guys like you are nothing but show offs. I'll forfeit the match if you manage to land a single hit on my Sneasel"  
"What!" shouted Erika  
"You're on!" Damien looked more pumped than ever.  
"Golem! Rock throw" Golem launched a barrage of rocks at Sneasel.  
"Metal claw" Sneasel cut every rock in half.  
"Grrr" Damien was steaming "Wait I know a move that you can't dodge!"  
The gang turned to Damien in fear "boss no!" "not that move"  
"Whats going on" wondered Erika.  
"Golem! Explosion!"  
Kyle looked surprised "Sneasel!"  
Golem began to glow and with a huge surge of power it exploded. Smoke filled the street.  
Once the smoke cleared everyone saw Golem knocked out.  
"Ha I win!" Damien pointed Kyle "There's no way you could've dodged that"  
Kyle looked somber then he grinned at Damien.  
"You sure?" from the smoke emerged Sneasel unharmed.  
The gang, Damien, and Erika all gawked  
"How's that possible" yelled an enraged Damien.  
"Easy. When your Golem erupted I had Sneasel use protect. It neutralized all the damage"  
Sneasel stood by its trainer while grinning mischievously.

"No way! I'm not done!" Damien returned Golem and held out another Pokeball.  
"yes you are" the man in the trenchcoat came outside.  
"Who're you old timer?" asked Damien  
The man removed his coat and revealed Professor Sycamore  
"Oh crud, you're that researcher!" said Damien  
"That's right and thanks to your explosion I'm sure the Vaniville town police is already on their way to investigate"  
The gang began to panick "Dude we gotta bounce" said a member  
"Grrr" Damien started to runaway. "This isn't over" he shouted at Kyle.

The Professor walked down to Kyle and Erika.  
"Are you two ok?" he asked.  
"We're fine" said Erika. "Kyle you were amazing out there" she crouched down to Sneasel's eye level "and you too Sneasel"  
Sneasel looked unfazed.  
"Turns out you were right about that guy" Sycamore said to Kyle "he was nothing but a show off. What kind of trainer would make his own pokemon use explosion? I tell ya kids these days."

"Um I'm sorry but who're you?" asked Erika  
"You don't know? He's professor Sycamore. The foremost Expert Pokemon researcher in the Kalos region" Kyle bowed "Its an honor sir. My name is Kyle"  
Sneasel bowed in unison.  
"Haha now now no need for formalities"  
"Nice to meet you too sir, I'm Erika"  
"Professor, trainers like Damien don't really deserve Pokemon right?"  
"You just proved it. Maybe he'll spend more time training now"  
"Then wouldn't you rather give a Pokemon to someone with real ambition to raise that Pokemon?"  
'Give a pokemon?' thought Erika 'What's he talking about?'  
"Of course" replied Sycamore  
"Then please" Kyle bowed again. "Please give Erika here a Pokemon"  
"What!" Erika looked at Kyle and then at Sycamore  
Sycamore looked as if he were pondering the question "Well..."

To be continued...


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Runaway Pokemon

"So um...why are you following me?" Erika was skipping along route one but she realized Kyle was walking behind her.  
Suddenly a wild Bunnelby jumped out of the bushes and almost tackled Erika.  
"AAh!" she screamed.  
"Sneasel, Icy wind" Kyle released Sneasel.  
Sneasel shot icy wind at the enemy and sent it running.  
"wow thanks" said Erika calmly.  
Kyle walked past her and continued, "C'mon Aquacorde Town is up ahead"  
Erika followed him and smiled 'so he came to protect me'

The town was a busy, bustling town made of tan bricks mostly. People were running around everywhere in the central shopping district. The two teens made their way through the market until they reached an outdoor Cafe' with a large Wigglytuff on the sign. They stood there and scanned the crowd.  
"Over here" a hand was raised from a table outside near door of the Cafe'.  
A man with a bowl cut blonde hair and a girl with dark skin and short hair stood up to wave at Kyle and Erika.  
"That must be them!" Erika pointed and started towards them "C'mon"  
Kyle followed indifferently.  
The two groups met at the table and shook hands "You two must be Erika and Kyle" said the blonde man. "We recognized you from the description the professor gave us, I'm Dexio"  
"And I'm Lexia. We're Professor Sycamore's assistants" said the girl. "Please sit"  
They all sat around the table.  
"Nice to meet you!" said Erika excitedly "I'm Erika and this is Kyle, we're so grateful to the professor for this. I know Pokemon licenses aren't cheap and-"  
"Thank you for meeting us" interrupted Kyle.  
The two assistants smiled. "no prob" started Dexio.  
"The Professor is a really nice guy, this is the first time he's given away a Pokemon for free but frankly we're not surprised".  
"So lets get to it!" said Lexia excitedly. "I'm sure Erika is dying to meet her new partner!"  
"Eeeek! Yes!" squealed Erika. She held Lexia's hands in her own "You know exactly how I feel".

"Well let's begin" Dexio stood. He brought out a Pokeball and threw it. A Froakie was released. The people dining around them took notice.  
"In Kalos, this the water Pokemon starter: Froakie"  
the frog Pokemon, looked bored and stood still.  
"Is it ok?" asked Kyle  
"Of course" said Lexia. "Froakie make excellent Pokemon, strong and smart, they're the partner for the trainer aiming to be a master!"  
"yea but" Erika looked over at Froakie "Its kind of..." Froakie looked up at her with its big eyes "creepy" Froakie grew pale and fell over.

"Well how bout this one" Dexio threw another Pokeball and summoned a Fennekin.  
It was nervous and hid under the table. They all gazed under the table at it. "The fire starter Pokemon is named Fennekin"  
Lexia grabbed it from under the table and held it out to Erika "Fennekin are adorable, super cute and very loyal Pokemon everyone wants a Fennekin"  
The Fennekin was so startled by her that it used ember on Lexia so that it be released. It fled under the table again and proceeded to tremble.  
"It is cute" said Erika. "But it's not very confident"  
Dexio and Lexia began to sweat.

"Where's the last Pokemon?" asked Kyle.  
Dexio held a Pokeball "Well" he threw it and a Chespin appeared "The last choice is the grass type Chespin"  
Chespin looked at Erika. She looked at it. Chespin stuck out its tongue and ran off.  
"wait" yelled Erika.  
Chespin ran towards a couple who were sitting at a table.  
They noticed it. "Hi litte guy" said the man. Chespin stuck out its tongue at him and used vine whip to get itself on the table.  
The couple was startled. Chespin ate the croissants on the table and ran off out of the Cafe'  
"Wait Chespin! come back" Erika ran after it.  
"We're so sorry" Kyle stopped and bowed at the couple then ran after Erika. Dexio and Lexia followed.

Chespin bobbed and weaved through the crowds of people but Erika would not take her eyes off of it.  
Behind her, Kyle, Dexio, and Lexia followed.  
"What's up with Chespin?" asked Kyle  
"We were hoping Erika would like one of the others" said Dexio  
"Yea that Chespin strays off alot and is really disobedient" said Lexia "We're sorry we should've warned Erika."

The Chespin made it to the edge of town where the town connected to route 2 through a stone bridge over the river. It turned to see Erika still on its tail.  
"wait Chespin!"said Erika as she slowed down gasping for air.  
Chespin ran to the center of the bridge and stood at its edge. "Wait" Erika stopped and called out to Chespin. The Pokemon stuck out its tongue and jumped into the river. The water was calm, it rose to the surface and began kicking downstream.

The group caught up to Erika.  
"Where'd it go?" asked Kyle  
"The riverbank, let's go" Erika went past them and led them off the bridge.

Down by the riverbank sat a fisherman on a lawn chair with his pole in hand and line in the water.  
He felt a tug. "Hmm. I got one?" He began to pull "Woah" it was a harsh tug.  
"Come to daddy!" he shouted. He pulled the pole back and a Pokemon jumped out of the water and onto the land. It was a Tentacool.  
The gang arrived and gasped in shock. "Chespin!" cried Erika.  
The Tentacool had Chespin wrapped in its tentacles.

"That your Chespin?" asked the fisherman.  
Kyle stood in front of the Tentacool. It looked menacing. Chespin cried for help.  
"Hang on Chespin" Kyle enlarged his Pokeball "Go Sneasel" he summoned Sneasel.  
The Tentacool fired a bubblebeam.  
"Icy wind" ordered Kyle. Sneasel shot icy wind and froze the bubbles then they popped.  
Tentacool fired a small soundwave at Sneasel.  
"That's supersonic" identified Dexio.  
"Dodge!" said Kyle.  
Sneasel dove and avoided the sound wave.  
"Now fury cutter!"  
Sneasel ran up to Tentacool and slashed away over and over again.  
Eventually it released Chespin. Chespin was knocked out and Erika went over to pick it up.  
Tentacool also fell over knocked out.  
"Pokeball go" Kyle threw an empty Pokeball and it captured Tentacool.  
Kyle went over and picked it up. "Easy" he turned to face Erika "how's Chespin?"  
"I don't know, Dexio" she passed it over to Dexio.  
"It just looks beat, let's take it to a Pokemon center" said Dexio while returning it into its Pokeball.  
"Right" said Kyle. "Let's go"  
"Wait!" shouted the fisherman

"You took my catch!" he pointed at Kyle  
"Now you have to pay" the fisherman held out a Pokeball at Kyle  
"a battle" Kyle raised an eyebrow then smiled "love to"

The two faced each other with plenty of space between them.  
"Two on two?" asked the fisherman  
"done, let's do this" Kyle threw his first Pokeball "Go Tentacool"  
The new Pokemon was summoned, it looked tired and had scratch marks all over it.  
"That Pokemon's already weak" The fisherman threw his Pokeball "Go Psyduck!"  
The ball summoned a Psyduck that looked angry.  
"Tentacool use poison sting" Tentacool fired tiny purple daggers at Psyduck. It hit head on.  
"Now use wrap!" ordered Kyle. Tentacool jumped at Psyduck and wrapped its tentacles around the duck Pokemon.  
"Psyduck, confusion!" ordered the fisherman. The duck's eyes began to glow in blue light. Tentacool's body began to glow in the same blue light and it fell over knocked out.  
"Ha easy!" laughed the fisherman.  
Kyle returned his new Pokemon to its ball "not a bad try" he remarked. Then he got out another ball.

"Now the real battle begins, go Sneasel!" he summoned Sneasel.  
"Psyduck confusion!" Psyduck's eyes glowed again but Sneasel just stood there arms crossed looking bored.  
"Why isn't anything happening?" asked the fisherman.  
"Amateur" said Kyle "Everyone knows psychic types don't affect dark type Pokemon"  
Sneasel smirked. "Sneasel use fury cutter!" Sneasel ran in and slashed away at Pysduck.  
"Grr Psyduck use water gun!" Psyduck fired a jet of water from its mouth.  
"Icy wind!" the two attacks collided and burst. "fury cutter" Sneasel ran in and slashed Psyduck again. This time it was knocked out.  
"No! Psyduck" the fisherman returned Psyduck.  
"Too easy" Kyle and Sneasel smirked.

"Well that wasn't my strongest Pokemon, watch this" fisherman threw a Pokeball into the river. Out sprang a Goldeen.  
"You're strongest Pokemon is a Goldeen" Kyle giggled. "He can't be serious" said Lexia. "Kick his butt Kyle" cheered Erika.  
"Goldeen supersonic" a sound wave shot from the water. Sneasel dove and dodged it.  
"Water pulse" Goldeen jumped out and fired a water orb at Sneasel.  
"Protect" countered Kyle. Sneasel surrounded itself with a forcefield. It blocked the water pulse  
"Horn attack" once the barrier ended, Goldeen was in front of Sneasel and hit it with horn attack then jumped back in the water.  
"Grr lucky" said Kyle  
"wanna bet, Goldeen water pulse"  
"Sneasel icy wind"  
Goldeen's water pulse and Sneasel's icy wind blocked each other.  
"Horn attack" Goldeen appeared again in front of Sneasel and rammed Sneasel with its horn.  
"No way, again" murmured Kyle.  
"One more time. Water pulse!" ordered fisherman.  
once again a water pulse was shot from the river.  
"How can I block both water pulse and horn attack?" wondered Kyle "I only have two hands"  
"!" 'wait that's it' thought Kyle.  
"Kyle watch out!" shouted Erika.  
The water pulse was about to hit Sneasel. "block with Metal claw" ordered Kyle.  
Sneasel blocked the water move with one of its glowing claws.  
"Horn attack" ordered fisherman. Goldeen dove from above once again.  
"Sneasel metal claw again" This time Sneasel used its free claw to block horn attack and slam Goldeen down on the ground.  
"No! he blocked both my moves!"  
"finish this with fury cutter!" ordered Kyle. Sneasel went in and slashed Goldeen one more time.  
Goldeen fainted.  
"Noooo!" Fisherman returned his Goldeen. The others cheered for Kyle.

Back at the Aquacorde Pokemon center.  
"That was a great battle Kyle" said Erika. Dexio and Lexia walked up to them "Chespin is gonna be fine" said Dexio.  
The three starter Pokemon walked up behind him.  
"So Erika have you decided on a partner?" asked Dexio  
"Let me guess?" said Lexia "Fennekin right? Ooh or Froakie!"  
Erika frowned "hmm no" she walked up to Chespin and picked it up. It looked confused.  
"I'd like Chespin" she smiled.  
"What?" said Dexio  
"Are you sure?" confirmed Lexia  
Kyle smiled.  
"Yup. I've made up my mind. You're a little trouble maker just like me Chespin. Let's be friends"  
Chespin stuck its tongue out at its new trainer.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: The Nature of Pokemon

"Wait" Erika was gasping for air.  
"Let's take a break" she called out to Kyle who was on the road way ahead of her. He stopped and turned back.  
"We're never gonna leave route 2 this way" said Kyle as he drank from his canteen.  
The two sat on a picnic blanket in the grass.  
There was nothing surrounding them but trees and bushes. Erika was digging through her bag.  
"What's the rush we're headed to Santalune city, it's not exactly next door let's take our time" She found a small straw case. She then took out her pokeball and brought out Chespin.  
The small Pokemon looked annoyed. Erika opened the case and revealed Pokepuffs.  
"Here Chespin why don't you have one?" she said with a smile. Chespin held a Pokepuff curiously.

Erika held out the case at Kyle "Here Kyle, I'm sure Sneasel would like one too"  
"Pokepuffs huh? Pokemon do love these" said Kyle.  
He took out his Pokeball "We'll see, Sneasel snack time" he brought out Sneasel.

It looked at the Pokepuff also confused by it. "Its alright" it looked up at Kyle  
"You can eat it"  
with that Sneasel took the treat and bit it. "Snee" squealed the Pokemon with joy"  
Kyle grinned "looks he likes it. What about Chespin?" he looked over at Erika. She was curled in a ball as Chespin vine whipped her.  
"...so it doesn't like pokepuffs?"  
"Will you please help me?" she begged

Snap snap. "hmm whats that" Kyle saw a bush shaking. "Who's there?!"  
A tall teenager with short black hair and a camera around his neck appeared from a bush behind Kyle, "Oh there you are!" he said.  
The group froze and watched the tall teen walk past them towards the shaking bush in front of them. He dug in the bush and held out an Abra.  
"An Abra?" confirmed Kyle  
Chespin was staring at that Abra curiously. Erika got up. "Cool Pokemon" she held out her Pokedex  
ABRA: THE PSY POKEMON, ABRA SLEEPS 16 HOURS A DAY. IT DOES SO TO HONE ITS PSYCHIC POWER.

"Neat" Erika went up and pet Abra "Its so cute, is it yours?" she asked  
The teen smiled "Yea, we got separated, thank goodness I found it" Abra didn't respond nor did it move.

The three teens sat on the grass while Abra slept, and Chespin ate alongside Sneasel.  
"My name's Erika and this is Kyle" she pointed to Kyle  
"Nice to meet you, I'm Nick. Pokemon photographer" he held out his camera.

"Pokemon Photographer?" said Erika  
"He's like a nature photographer" said Kyle, "Except with Pokemon instead"  
Nik smiled "Right! I go around taking photos of Pokemon for ads, magazines, calendars and private clients"  
"Oh cool" she said.  
"yup, check these out"  
Nik took out an album book from his large backpack. He opened it to show a vast amount of photos of wild Pokemon.  
"wow!" said Erika "These are amazing"  
"You've been doing this for quite a while no?" asked Kyle.  
"Haha thanks, It has been a while. I used to be a Pokemon trainer and I still do like to raise Pokemon" he pointed at Abra  
"But while I was out here looking for my next target I caught that Abra and I lost track of it"

'lost track of a sleeping Pokemon?' thought Erika 'I wonder how'

"What target are you talking about?" asked Kyle  
"Ah thats referring to the Pokemon Im searching for in my next photoshoot"  
He took out some blurry pictures of a Linoone "see?"  
Kyle took the photos "Oh so you're looking to get a shot of a Linoone" Erika peeked at the photos.  
"yup, They're around here somewhere" said Nick, "And I'll find them"

Chespin strutted up to Erika and stuck out its tongue at her. she smiled '!'  
"Hey I have an idea!" She stood. "Nick I challenge you to a Pokemon battle"  
"What are you doing?" Kyle asked.  
"Yea dont you think Abra will be a perfect first opponent for my Chespin" she gleamed with excitement at Chespin. Chespin looked bored.  
"I accept" Nick stood up. "Sounds fun Erika"

The two trainers stood across from each other in the grassy field.  
Abra sat lazily in front of Nick. Chespin stood bored in front of Erika.  
"You can go first Erika" he offered.  
"Right" she said. "Ok Chespin, here it is our first battle! Ready?" Chespin looked at her bored out of its mind.  
"Alright!" Kyle came to the middle of the field and raised his hand. "Begin" he announced then fled.  
"Go and use Pin Missile!" she ordered. Chespin looked up at her, smiled maliciously and fired the attack at Erika "aaah stop" she weaved and bobbed trying to avoid the pins.  
"Haha you too don't seem to get along" said Nick.  
"That's an understatement" muttered Kyle who stood on the sidelines leaning on a tree.  
When Chespin tired itself out it turned and noticed Abra. Chespin's evil grin arose and it fired Pin missile at Abra.  
"Abra watch out" shouted Nick. Abra then vanished and the attack hit the ground.  
"Huh?" Erika got up from the ground. "What happened?"  
Nick examined the field. Kyle and Erika too. "Abra must've used Teleport" said Kyle.  
"Haha not again" Nick smiled "this is how we became separated in the first place"  
Erika and Kyle looked annoyed.

The three trainers were rustling through bushes.  
"Abra!" shouted Nick "Come out come out wherever you are!"  
"Where could it be" asked Erika.  
Kyle slumped down on the ground, put his arms behind his head and said "This is pointless, Abra could be long gone. It probably doesn't want such an unreliable trainer"  
Erika looked at Kyle angrily "Don't say that"  
Kyle shot an annoyed look at Nick who continued to search without looking at them.  
"Thing is" Nick began while beating more bushes "Kyle's right"  
Erika stopped cold, she looked at him pitifully "That's not true" she said.  
Kyle closed his eyes '!' "wait. I just had an Idea." He said.

The three trainers huddled together, hidden in a bush. They looked out at a tree stump in the open grass. On top of the stump sat some of Erika's Pokepuffs.  
"This is a great Idea Kyle" She said "Now when Abra gets hungry it'll smell the Pokepuffs and come running".  
A bead of sweat dripped from Kyle's forehead "um…I don't know about that. I just realized there's a slight flaw in my plan"  
"Huh?" Erika looked at him puzzled. "What could go wrong?"  
"Look!" Nick pointed at the stump. There, grabbing the Pokepuffs with its mouth, was a wild Zigzagoon.  
"Yea" began Kyle "It just occurred to me that we might reel in the wrong prey"  
The Zigzagoon began to fled.  
"Wait Zigzagoon!" Nick ran after it.  
"What are you doing we're looking for Abra" said Erika as she stood up.  
"Zigzagoon evolve into a Linoone, this is the best lead to get my target" he yelled out.  
"Oh boy, C'mon Kyle" she ran after him.  
Kyle stood up. "How irresponsible, you'd think his own Pokemon would be his first concern" he ran after Erika.

The trainers follow the wild Pokemon to a large tree where a large pack of Zigzagoon were playing. The trainers stop as the Zigzagoon joined the pack. The pack then noticed the intruders and began to growl.  
"wow! I've never seen so many Pokemon in one place" said Erika.  
"We should leave" said Kyle "They don't look happy to see us"  
Three Zigzagoon approached them angrily. "Looks like they want to battle" Kyle brought a Pokeball  
"Go Sneasel!" Sneasel was summoned.  
One of the Zigzagoon launched a tackle attack. "Metal claw!" Sneasel slashed the enemy Pokemon with its glowing claws. The Zigzagoon fainted.  
The other two prepared to attack. "Go Chespin" Erika summoned Chespin.  
"Pin Missile!" She ordered but Chespin just turned around and fired at her instead while laughing.  
"Ah stop! Return" she returned it to its ball.  
"That didn't look like fun" said Nick  
"I'll take care of this!" Kyle threw another Pokeball. Tentacool was summoned. "Tentacool bubblebeam"  
Tentacool fired a stream of bubbles that hit one of the Zigzagoons and knocked it out.  
"Sneasel use Icy wind!" Sneasel fired its gust of wind and knocked out the other Zigzagoon.  
The pack then stood in front of their injured brethren. They growled angrily.  
"We can't take on this entire pack" said Nick. "There's too many"  
"Nick Look!" Erika pointed to the tree behind the pack. On the tip of its branches sat Abra sleeping blissfully.  
"its Abra!" Nick said. He tried to take a step forward but the Zigzagoon growled louder.  
"Urg, we can't close to the tree" he said.

Suddenly, from the leaves of the tree jumped down a shadow. It jumped through the pack of Zigzagoon and stood in front of the pack. It was a Linoone.  
"Wow" said Erika  
"It's a Linoone" confirmed Kyle.  
Linoone looked back at the pack of Zigzagoon and shook its head. The pack backed off.  
"It must be the leader of the pack" said Nick.  
The Linoone then got on all fours and began to growl.  
"What now?" asked Erika.  
"I get it, Linoone must want to settle this in a one on one fight. Right Linoone?" Nick stared into the wild Pokemon's eyes. "noooon" it howled in agreement.  
"Well lets go Sneasel!" Commanded Kyle.  
"Hang on" Nick stood between Kyle and the Linoone. "This is my Abra, I'm responsible so I'll be Linoone's opponent" he took out a Pokeball.  
"He has another Pokemon?" asked Erika.

"Go Yanmega!" The flying bug Pokemon took to the skies and appeared before Linoone.  
"Let's go Linoone" said Nick.  
Linoone charged at Yanmega with glowing claws. "Careful" said Kyle "that's slash attack"  
Yanmega avoided the move with ease.  
"you're gonna have to be faster than that to hit my Yanmega"  
Linoone attempted to tackle Yanmega and failed again.  
"Wow! Yanmega is so fast!" claimed Erika.  
"Yanmega! Use quick attack!" The bug Pokemon charged at Linoone, hitting it over and over again with such speed that it could barely be seen.  
Linoone tried to slash it back but Yanmega quickly dodged each attack.  
"Finish this Yanmega, use Ancient power!" Yanmega prepared a brown ball of energy and fired it a Linoone. It hit dead on and Linoone fainted.  
"He Won!" cheered Erika  
Kyle smiled "well whattaya know"

The angry growls coming from the pack signaled their commencement of vengeance when suddenly they froze. They saw Nick kneeling down at the injured Linoone and offering it oran berries.  
"Here, these will make you feel better" Linoone looked up at it confused.  
Erika and Kyle looked on quietly.  
"We just came to take some pictures and then we noticed that my friend Abra was here" Nick held the berries close to Linoone's mouth "we never intended to fight. I'm sorry"  
Linoone smiled and began to eat the berries.

The Zigzagoon were playing cheerfully with their leader Linoone. The Pokemon were at peace.  
Snap Snap Nick was on one knee taking shots of the scene with his Camera with Abra sleeping on his back.  
Erika and Kyle stood behind him  
"Wow" she said "They look so happy!"  
"Yup" said Nick as he continued to take pictures "This is why I love being a photographer. Seeing such happy Pokemon reminds me of why I love Pokemon in the first place"  
Kyle walked to stand behind Nick  
"Nick" he began "I owe you an apology"  
Nick stood up and faced him "huh? What for?"  
"What I said earlier, You're Yanmega is amazing and the way you treated Linoone…You aren't a bad trainer at all. I'm sorry" he bowed.  
"haha its ok, its ok" Nick laughed "you weren't wrong, my Abra needs a lot of training" he held out his hand to Kyle. "But thank you Kyle, that means a lot" he smiled.  
Kyle took his hand and they shook.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Flames of Courage

Snap snap  
"Urg can you take pictures any quieter my head's about to spin?" shouted Erika.  
She and Kyle continue through the Santalune woods to Santalune city followed by Nick.  
Nick put down his camera to look at her  
"Sorry Erika, I'm just so inspired by the forest I want to capture every moment"  
Kyle turned to him. "Why are you following us anyway?"  
"Oh? Am I following you guys? I was just headed to Santalune city. That's where my client who asked for the Linoon picture is"  
Erika sighed. "Well since we're headed to the same place we might as well travel together but you've got to put down the camera from time to time"  
He put the camera down and let it hang around his neck.  
"Haha Alright, point taken" he said.

Suddeny, the bushes ahead of them began rustling  
"eek whats that?" shrieked Erika  
Nick put his camera back on his face "Is it a Pokemon?"  
Out of the bushes came a well-dressed teenage boy, he had slick hair and a bored expression.  
"Good day" he greeted.  
The gang relaxed.  
"Aw" Nick put his camera down "You're not a Pokemon"  
The now angered boy stepped forward. "Pardon me? A Pokemon? I'll have you know that I'm Archinold Remington, the 7th. Next in line to the Remington fortune"  
"Who?" asked Nick  
"Never heard of em" said Erika  
Kyle stepped forward to face Archinold "The Remington clan is a Nobel family. They have a fortune and their heirs travel the world as Pokemon trainers"  
"Indeed" Remington brought a Pokeball "So do any of you think you can take me?"  
Kyle smiled. "A battle now you're speaking my language Remington"

Kyle and Remington faced each other, the field was a bit dark because of the surrounding trees but nonetheless spacious.  
"Here's my Pokemon"  
Remington threw his Pokeball. Out came a Pansear.  
"Ooh whats that" Erika took out her Pokedex  
PANSEAR: THE FIRE MONKEY POKEMON. PANSEAR LIVED ON MOUNTAINS AND HAVE GAINED THE ABILITY TO BREATHE FIRE OVER TIME.  
"A fire type" said Nick to Erika. They stood at the sides watching.  
"It should have an advantage over an Ice-type like Sneasel. Kyle should use Tentacool" he said.

"Well here's my partner" Kyle summoned his trusty Sneasel to his side. Sneasel looked pumped.  
"What?" Nick questioned.  
"Kyle using Tentacool would be smarter!" shouted Erika.  
"There's no victory over winning because of a type advantage. Duh" Kyle responded.  
"Now" Nick stood in the middle as the referee. "Begin"  
"Sneasel use Fury Cutter!" Sneasel charged at Pansear.  
"Pansear Flamethrower" Pansear shot a strong fire breath from its mouth.  
"Dodge!" urged Kyle. Sneasel stopped quickly and dove out of the fire's path just in time.  
"That was a close one" exclaimed Nick.  
"Now go Fury Cutter" Sneasel reached Pansear and began hacking away.  
"Fight back with Fire Punch" Pansear's fist was ablaze and it hit Sneasel dead on, thrusting it back and creating distance.  
"Sneasel are you ok?" called out Kyle. The Pokemon winced in pain but nodded.  
"Now Pansear, Flamethrower!" Pansear shot another Flamethrower  
"Sneasel, Protect" Sneasel drew a barrier that blocked the fire move.  
"That's awesome" cheered Erika. "Pansear can't get past Protect"  
"Don't be so sure, Protect doesn't last forever!" said Nick.

The flames kept on pushing the barrier and suddenly the barrier evaporated and the flames hit Sneasel.  
"Sneasel, NO!" yelled Kyle.  
"That was a direct hit" muttered Nick.  
Sneasel fell over, trying to get up. Pansear stood in front of him looming down at it like a vicious monster.  
"Finish this Pansear, use Flamethrowere" Pansear bathed Sneasel in flames. Sneasel fainted.  
Kyle fell to his knees, shocked.  
"The winner is Archinold" announced Nick.  
"Oh my, not much of a challenge are you?" he returned Pansear to its ball and walked away "Get stronger and we'll battle again" he said as he walked into the forest.

The group had set up camp near a river.  
There was table with plates and silverware. A pot, with something cooking inside, boiling over a stove.  
The Pokemon were all released and eating from bowls.  
Nick sat in one of the chairs at the table fidgeting with his camera.  
Erika stirred and tasted the stew.  
Kyle sat there and stared at Sneasel. Sneasel had been bandaged in several areas. It stared at its food bowl but looked depressed and wouldn't eat.  
Nick looked up at Kyle and followed his gaze to Sneasel. "It looks really shaken up Kyle, I take it you guys don't lose much do ya?"  
Kyle shook his head "first time"  
Nick smiled "No good trainer has never not lost, if that makes any sense. It's part of knowing yourself and your weaknesses"  
Kyle quieted. He got up and walked towards Sneasel. He kneeled down before his partner.  
"Eat"  
Sneasel looked at him confused. "You'll be completely useless in your next battle if you're hungry. So eat" Kyle had a cold, indifferent look.  
Sneasel looked at him. Then he slowly grabbed small portions of food and started nibbling on it. 

Nick was watching. He sighed. 'It seems Sneasel's not the only one shaken up' he thought.

"Come and get it!" Erika brought over the pot she'd been stirring for the last few minutes.  
The smell was intoxicating.  
"Wow Erika what is that?" wondered Nick.  
Kyle came back and sat in his seat. "I didn't even know you could cook" he remarked.  
"well you learn a thing or two working in a restaurant boys. Now-"  
she began pouring the stew in bowls and served them to Nick and Kyle.  
The boys grabbed their spoons and simultaneously said "Thanks for the meal"  
"oh wait" she remembered "I should mention its-"  
They put it in their mouths  
"AAAAH! My mouth is on fire!" coughed Nick  
"What did you?!" screamed Kyle as Nick down his entire canteen of water.  
"Oops" she smiled embarrassed. "I probably should've mentioned it's a bit spicy"  
"A bit?" the boys questioned simultaneously.

Suddenly, Erika heard a rustling behind her. "Huh?"  
She turned. A Butterfree flew out of the bushes at high speed and landed on her. She fell over on the table, dropping the table and the stew pot.  
"What's this?" The boys got up and came over to her. Kyle drinking from his canteen now.  
"It's a Butterfree" they noticed that the Butterfree was full of injuries from a recent battle.  
"bzzzz" was heard from the bushes ahead.  
Two Beedrill appeared. They noticed Butterfree and charged at the trainers.  
"Those Beedrill must be Butterfree's attackers" Nick surmised.  
"Well let's take care of em" said Kyle "Sneasel!" Kyle turned to Sneasel, signaling it to battle.  
The Pokémon looked up at Kyle and shook its head in fear.  
"…fine. Tentacool!" Tentacool jumped over from where it was eating.  
"Yanmega!" Nick ordered. Yanmega flew over them and arrived in the battlefield.  
"Chespin help us out!" called Erika.  
Chespin began whipping Erika once again "Ow nooo never mind. Return" she returned it to its ball.  
"why me?!" she cried.  
The Beedrill charged at Yanmega and Tentacool with Twineedle.  
"Tentacool, poison sting!" The poison darts were fired at the Beedrill but were easily deflected by the bug Pokémon's large stingers.  
"Yanmega, use Ancient Power!" Yanmega fired its glowing, brown orb at the two Beedrill and pushed them back on impact.  
"Tentacool, Supersonic!" Tentacool fired a wave of sound. It seemed to confuse both Beedrill.  
"Finish them Yanmega, Wing Attack!" Yanmega's glowing wings slammed rapidly at both Beedrill and the two enemies fled immediately.  
"That'll show them!" smiled Nick.  
Kyle walked back over to Sneasel. It was cowering in fear.

The Butterfree was bandaged up and was now eating from a bowl. It was chowing down as if it hadn't eaten for days.  
"The poor thing, it was really weak" said Erika. The trainers sat around the table looking at the wild Pokemon.  
"That's just the way things are" started Kyle. "The weak will always be trampled by the strong"  
Nick laughed and brought at map from his bag.  
"It's not always so black and white Kyle" he said as he unrolled it. "But there is something weird going on"  
The three trainers looked at the topography described on the map.  
It seemed to be a layout of the Santalune forest.  
"Usually, the Butterfree and the Beedrill don't interact. In fact they have their own separate territories that they stick to" he pointed to a line in the middle of the forest. "This river divides the forest and marks the end of their territories. The West side of the forest is Butterfree territory. The East is Beedrill Territory"  
"oh!" Erika was looking at the map intensely. "So why were these Beedrill attacking Butterfree? Did Butterfree wonder into the wrong territory?"  
"Just the opposite" Nick replied. "We're in the West side of the forest, Butterfree Territory"  
"So it's those Beedrill that don't belong here" said Kyle.  
"Precisely" Nick began to roll up his map.  
The gang looked over at Butterfree which was still eating.  
"Hey Butterfree" called out Nick. "Are more Beedrill invading your area?"  
The Pokemon looked at them and nodded.  
"Why are the Beedrill moving into this territory?" asked Erika.  
"I don't know" Nick got up and started packing "But something is upsetting the balance of nature in the forest and must be corrected"  
Erika and Kyle nodded.

The gang walked through shrubbery, hidden from sight as they noticed more and more Beedrill buzzing around anxiously.  
They arrived at the river where they crossed using stepping stones.  
As they kept walking, the forest seemed so empty. Not a soul around.

"This whole area looks deserted" said Kyle.  
Nick stopped and pointed upwards "Look!"  
From across several trees above them, a flamethrower attack was being launched at the sky.  
"What is that?" asked Erika.  
"The cause of all this" Nick ran in that direction with the other two following him.

They arrive at a clearing. The trees were scorched and some were still ablaze.  
"Saaaaar!" shouted the culprit. They saw a fire Pokemon ram itself on trees and setting things on fire. It looked out of control.  
"What is that thing?!" Erika used her Pokedex.  
SIMISEAR: THE EVOLVED FORM OF PANSEAR. SIMISEAR ARE SAID TO BE TIMID POKEMON UNTIL THEIR FOOD SOURCE IS THREATENED.

"The evolve form of Pansear?" Kyle noticed the trainer from earlier standing in the corner looking rather bored at the scene.  
"Archinold!" they shouted as they approached.  
"What's going on?" Kyle asked.  
"Well look who it is. Your timing is impeccable, my Simisear is going to burn down the whole forest unless you do something" his voice was calm.  
"What this is your Simisear?" questioned Nick.  
"After our battle" began Archinold. "I wanted to power up Pansear's strength even further. So I used a fire stone I'd been saving. Unfortunately, it was for naught. Once evolved, my new Simisear refused to listen to anything I'd say"  
The group gasped as they watched Simisear go crazy.  
"Please, you must help me stop it!" he pleaded now looking worried.

The group nodded in unison and ran at Simisear.  
"Go" Kyle threw a Pokeball. Sneasel emerged. When Sneasel saw its opponent, it froze and trembled.  
"Looks like Sneasel still can't battle" said Nick.  
Kyle stepped in front of his partner. Sneasel looked up at him. "Just watch" said Kyle.  
"Tentacool, I choose you" Kyle brought out Tentacool.  
"Use Bubblebeam!" Tentacool's bubblebeam hit Simisear and caught its attention, it now charged at Tentacool with a Fire punch attack.  
"Dodge!" Tentacool avoided the move. "now wrap!" the water Pokemon then wrapped itself around Simisear's arm.  
Simisear attempted to shake it off but was unable to. Sneasel watched intently.  
"Tentacool, use Bubblebeam" The bubbles hit Simisear right in the face.  
"Direct hit!" Cheered Nick.  
"Way to go" copied Erika.  
Simisear used Flamethrower on Tentacool. It kept up the flames on until Tentacool fainted and fell to the floor.  
"Urg" Kyle returned Tentacool.  
"My turn" Nick stepped up. "Go Yanmega" Yanmega whirled around Simisear.  
"Use Ancient Power!" Yanmega charged its orb and hit Simisear dead on. It still stood.  
"Try wing attack!" Yanmega charged in with glowing wings.  
Simisear grabbed the glowing wings and used Flamethrower from close range.  
Yanmega fainted. "Oh no! return Yanmega!" Nick retreated.  
"My turn" Erika threw her Pokeball "Go Chespin"  
Erika was on the ground balled up like a baby as Chespin vine whipped her. She cried "Why meee"

Simisear looked more enraged than before.  
"What now?" asked Nick. "We're all out of Pokemon"  
Sneasel stepped forward. "Snee Sneasel" it cried.  
Kyle looked at it. Sneasel looked at Kyle. The two smiled and nodded in unison.

"What's happening?" asked Erika  
"I think Sneasel is about to overcome its fear" Nick grinned.

"Go Sneasel!" Sneasel charged at Simisear.  
Simisear fired a Flamethrower which Sneasel barely dodged.  
"That was too close" said Kyle.

"Sneasel can't get near Simisear with that Flamethrower attack" Erika looked worried  
"That's too bad, with Icy wind being useless against a fire type, Sneasel's only other option is close combat moves like fury cutter" Nick watched with a worried look as well.  
Simisear fired another Flamethrower.

"Protect!" Sneasel surrounded itself in a barrier.  
The flames crashed on the barrier, blocked from reaching Sneasel.  
The barrier, however, was slowly withering away.  
"Sneasel" shouted Kyle. "Get out of there!" Sneasel dove out of the way just as the barrier broke.

'This is impossible' thought Kyle.  
'There's no way to stop it. Unless it slipped up'  
"!" 'That's it!'

"Sneasel use Icy wind!"  
Sneasel looked back at its trainer with a confused look.  
"Aim it at the ground" Sneasel nodded and fired the ice move at the ground. The entire grassland, below Sneasel and Simisear's feet, was frozen solid.  
"He froze the ground?" Archinold was curious.

"Now use fury cutter!" Sneasel charged, the claws on its feet allowed it to skate on the ice comfortably.  
"Look" pointed Erika "Sneasel is skating"  
Simisear was about to use Flamethrower but lost its footing and slipped on the ice beneath him.  
Everyone looked surprised.  
Kyle smiled. "This is our chance, Sneasel!"  
Sneasel jumped above Simisear and its claws glowed differently than when it used fury cutter.  
It slashed at Simisear and knocked it out.

The trainers cheered.  
"yey!" cheered Erika "Way to go Sneasel!"  
"it even learned a new attack" said Nick. Kyle looked over at Nick "That last move was slash right?"  
"Yup. Congratulations"  
Archinold went up to his Simisear and returned it with a sigh.  
Sneasel fell over exhausted. It was suddenly picked up. Sneasel was turned around and saw its trainer.  
Kyle then cradled it like a child. Sneasel looked up at Kyle and saw a smile on Kyle's lips.  
"Good work". Sneasel smiled too.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Good Will Poaching

"Alright" Kyle raised his hand. "Begin!"

Nick and Abra stood on one side of the grassy field facing Erika and Chespin.

"Ready Erika!" said Nick "Let's give it all we've got"  
Abra looked indifferent.  
"Ok Chespin, our first real battle. Ready?" Erika looked down at Chespin.  
It made a scary face at her. She sighed. "C'mon"

Chespin raise its vines to whip Erika.  
"Not again!" she cried.  
Suddenly a tall, skinny man with a beard ran out of a bush screaming. He landed in front of Erika in time to take Chespin's beating .

"AAAH What did I do?" he asked.  
"Oh no!" Erika returned Chespin. The man fell over. "Are you ok?"  
"Thank ya ma'am" he said.  
Erika bowed apologetically, "I'm so sorry, Please forgive me"  
The boys come over. "Are you ok sir?" asked Kyle.  
The man got up slowly. "I reckon I'm fine" he stretched.  
The bush he came from bustled and out came a wide, heavy man with a full beard as well.  
"There ye r Remmy" he said. "Thought I lost ya"  
"Over here Slim" said Remmy.

The group sat on their blanket opposite the two men.  
They were scarfing down Erika's super spicy curry leftovers.  
"Geez" said Kyle "Do you think they'll ever come up for air?"

"This is mighty tasty kids" said Remmy with his mouth full.  
"Thanks a lot" Slim also had his mouth full.

"Gross" muttered Kyle.  
"Haha you guys were hungry" said Nick.  
"Eat as much as you like" smiled Erika. "We have plenty"

The men's camping equipment was in the back of a jeep parked in the bushes they originated from. There were big boxes in the back.  
"We ran out of food a while ago, thought we'd go hungry" said Slim.  
"You kids are mighty kind" said Remmy.  
"No problem" Erika went over to her bag "let me get you guys some water"  
Nick grabbed his camera and took shots of the two hungry men.  
"Why?" asked Kyle.  
"I wanna compare them, to a herd of hungry Ryhorn I shot once. Haha"

Kyle looked them over and their jeep.  
"So all that equipment and no food?" asked Kyle.  
The men finished their plates and sighed.  
"Yea, they were full but we been out here for a straight month and ran out" Remmy burped.  
Erika came over and handed them a canteen.  
She said "That's a long time"  
Nick put down his camera "what were you doing out here?"

Remmy and Slim stood excitedly. While Remmy drank, Slim said  
"We've been looking for a really rare Pokemon, a Litleo"  
"Litleo?" asked the gang simultaneously.  
Erika brought her Pokedex:  
LITLEO: THE LION CUB POKEMON. LITLEO LIVE IN GROUPS CALLED PRIDES. THEY HAVE ONE MALE LEADER AND OBEY IT UNTIL THE LEADER IS OVERTHROWN.

"Cutie!" squealed Erika at the picture on the screen.  
"So that's a Litleo" Nick was looking over at Erika's Pokedex.  
"I'd love a shot of a rare Pokemon" he said.  
Kyle stood up. "And I'd like to catch a rare Pokemon"

"Well good luck!" Said Remmy.  
"We've been looking for a month and haven't found a thing" said Slim.  
"We'd heard there was a pride here in the forest but can't find anything" he continued.  
"Well" Kyle put his fist against his chest. "We want to see a Litleo too so we'll help you"  
Erika and Nick nodded.

The group drove through the forest in the jeep.  
Slim and Remmy in the front, Remmy drove.  
Erika, Kyle, and Nick sat bunched together in the back. "So what's our game plan boys?" asked Kyle.  
"We don't know" shouted Slim "We just drive around until we find em"  
The gang looked at each other worriedly. "Hold on!" Shouted Kyle.  
Remmy hit the brakes "What?" he said.  
"We can't just go around driving blindly" said Kyle.  
"Well what you suppose we do?" asked Slim.  
Nick stood up on the Jeep " I think I have an idea" he threw a pokeball. Yanmega was summoned.  
"Yanmega can search from the skies, it's really fast so it can search quicker than a normal flying type"  
"Good plan" Erika cheered.  
"Go for it" Kyle sat back.  
Nick sat down and looked up at its hovering bug Pokemon "Yanmega! We need you to search the forest for a Litleo. If you find one, follow it until it reaches a group of Litleo. Then come back and show us the way" Yanmega nodded and flew off in a flash.

The gang continued to drive aimlessly.  
Suddenly Nick screamed "STOP!"  
Remmy slammed the brakes "What Now!"  
Nick put a hand to his ear "Hear that?" Everyone quieted for a second. However, they seemed confused by the silence "What?" asked Kyle.  
Nick pointed at the trees directly in front of them. "Yanmega" and like magic Yanmega flew out of the trees and appeared.  
"Wow how'd you know?" asked Erika.  
"Haha I've been training Yanmega for a long time, I know the sound of its wings anywhere"  
"Mighty Impressive son" said Slim.  
"Yanmega did you find the Litleo?" Yanmega nodded.  
They all cheered. "Ok" Nick got off the Jeep. "Lead the way"  
"What're you doing kid?" asked Remmy "get in!"  
"Actually, I think we should proceed on foot" said Nick.  
"Why?" asked the two men.  
"It just occurred to me that you're jeep's presence might be startling wild Pokemon, the pride might've sensed your jeep and ran in the opposite direction. That might be why you haven't encountered Litleo before or any Pokemon actually"

The men looked embarrassed. "That…makes sense" admitted Slim.  
Kyle and Erika looked annoyed and hopped out of the jeep.

The group strolled through the woods, led by Nick who was following his Yanmega.  
The two men each carried one of box from the Jeep.  
Kyle looked back at them. "What're the boxes for?"  
They looked startled for a second. Then Remmy replied "This here's some sensitive eeequipment. We can't afford to lose it so some wild Pokemon at the Jeep"  
Kyle looked satisfied and focused ahead of him.  
Yanmega stopped. It hovered in front of Nick towards some heavy bushes. They couldn't see past the bushes.  
"Is it past here Yanmega?" Nick asked. The Pokemon nodded. "Thanks" he recalled Yanmega. "Let's go"

The group was pushing past the bushes slowly.  
"Are we there yet?" whined Erika. "I've got leaves everywhere"  
"Shhh" shushed Nick. He crouched and gestured for everyone to get closer. They huddled together and looked through the bush. There was an open plains where a pride of Litleo were playing and sleeping along with some Pyroar. One Pyroar with a full mane sat sleeping on the tallest rock.  
"wow" said Erika.  
"We found them!" said Nick. Kyle tingled with excitement "They're amazing" he said.  
Suddenly the men ran past them to the open plains "Pay day here we come" said Slim as he ran.  
"Wait!" Nick stood up trying to warn them.

A Litleo was trying to pick a fight with a sleeping Pyroar but it kept being ignored. It looked over to see two humans popping out of the forest. It ran towards them and growled angrily at them.  
"Well look slim" said Remmy. "I reckon he's a feisty one".  
Slim was opening his box. "I reckon we should get to work" he said as he pulled out a cannon blaster. It rested on his shoulder on one end and held by his left hand on the other hand. "You're ours little guy"  
He shot towards the Litleo and a net appeared instead of a bullet. It held down Litleo.  
The pride became alert at the sound of the blast. The Pyroar on the rock got up urgently and sprinted towards them.  
Nick, Kyle and Erika ran to the men.  
"What are you doing?" shouted Nick.  
"That's not how you catch Pokemon?" said Erika.  
Remmy went into his box and got his cannon. "We need all these Litleo kids, they're gonna be worth big bucks" He aimed at the pride "Stay out of the way!"  
The two men shot over and over until the entire pride was held down by nets even the leading Pyroar.  
They all squealed for help.  
"I knew there was something off about them" said Kyle  
Nick and Erika looked at him. "They're poachers" Kyle accused.  
His friends gasped. "I see" said Nick. You guys hunt Pokemon for money"  
"That's aweful! I can't believe I fed you" said Erika.  
"We did worse than that" said Kyle "We brought them here"

The men were reeling in the nets and putting them together.  
"Well kids that's the way the cookie crumbles" Remmy laughs.  
"Crumble this" Kyle summoned Sneasel. "Sneasel use slash! Cut the nets"  
Sneasel slashed the feisty Litleo's net. It looked grateful to Sneasel.  
"Hey! What we say bout getting in the way" Said Slim holding a Pokeball.  
"Looks like youngers need a lesson" Remmy held his own Pokeball. They both threw their Pokeballs.  
A Diggersby and Koffin appeared.

"Koffin" commanded Remmy. "Use Smokescreen" The floating Pokemon unleashed a gust of smoke.  
The gang was blinded immediately. They coughed and coughed.  
"Now" said Remmy. "Let's get out of here"  
"Diggersby" said Slim "Dig"  
The bigger Pokemon started digging into the ground with its shovel-like ears.

Suddenly, A gust of cold wind blew the smoke apart and hit Diggersby hard.  
It fell over and got up quickly.  
"What the?" the two men were surprised.  
The smoke revealed Sneasel with the gang behind him. "You're not getting away with this!" said Kyle.  
"I'll help" said Nick "Go Yanmega" he released Yanmega.  
"Me too" Erika held her Pokeball "Ready Chesp-"  
"DON'T HELP!" The two boys interrupted.  
Erika looked depressed. "On second thought maybe I will skip this one out"  
The Litleo Sneasel freed stood by Sneasel looking ready to fight.

"Sneasel use Icy wind" commanded Kyle.  
"Sonicboom Yanmega!" ordered Nick.  
"Diggersby mud shot" countered Slim  
"Sludge bomb" said Remmy

The four attacks clashed causing a thicker smoke.  
"Sneasel Slash!" Sneasel ran at Diggersby.  
"Diggersby Doubleslap" The large Pokemon started slapping Sneasel around with its two large ears.  
"Yanmega Wing attack" Yanmega charged at Koffin with its glowing wings.  
"Koffin Smokescreen" Koffin created another cloud of smoke. Yanmega ran into it and came out the other side without hitting its target. "Sludge Bomb!" sludge missiles were fired from the smoke cloud and hit Yanmega dead on.

"No Yanmega!" cried Nick.  
"They're really strong" confirmed Erika  
"That is unexpected" said Kyle.

Sneasel was still being slapped around by Diggersby when the Litleo appeared and bit one of Diggersby's ears. Thus stopping its attack. Suddenly the teeth clenched unto Diggersby were ablaze with fire.  
"Litleo!" cheered Erika.  
"It used Fire Fang" said Nick.

"Diggersby get it off!" Ordered Slim.  
Diggersby flailed its ears against the ground over and over until the small fire Pokemon released its grip and fell over.  
"Ok Sneasel work together with Litleo" Sneasel helped Litleo up. .It nodded at Litleo. Litleo nodded back.  
"Sneasel Slash attack" Sneasel charged at Diggersby.  
"Double Slap!" Slim's Diggersby was about to slap Sneasel again when suddenly a small fire attack hit its face. It flinched.  
"Wow that's Litleo's ember" said Nick. Litleo cried happily.  
Sneasel landed its slash attack successfully. Diggersby fell back looking exhausted.

"Koffin Sludge Bomb!" Koffin fired more balls of sludge at Yanemega. They were missing as Yanmega kept its distance.  
"Sneasel use Icy Wind, Litleo use Ember!" commanded Kyle.  
The two Pokemon fired their attacks in unison. The blasts collided with the sludge bomb and caused an explosion of smoke.  
"Yanmega Wing Attack!"  
out of the smoke, Yanmega appeared and hit Koffin. It passed out on the floor.

"Ah no" Slim returned Diggersby.  
"Now we run" Remmy returned Koffin.  
"I don't think so" The two turned around to see Erika surrounded with freed Litleo and Pyroar. The nets were cut open and lay on the floor. The pride looked at the poachers with anger in their eyes.  
"We're out of here!" The two men ran quickly back into the forest.

The gang cheered for their victory along with the Litleo.  
The Litleo and Pyroar Pride stood together facing the gang.  
"Hopefully those losers won't bother you guys anymore" said Kyle.  
The leading Pyroar nodded. The entire pride bowed at them.  
"They must be thanking us" said Nick. He grabbed his camera and began shooting.  
Suddenly Kyle noticed that the same Litleo that helped them out was pulling at his pant leg.  
"Hu? What do you want?" he asked.  
The Litleo roared.  
Kyle nodded. "I Understand. Let's battle" Litleo lit up at hearing the word battle.

LItleo stood on one side while Kyle and Sneasel faced it.  
The gang stood with the Pride watching.  
"Ready Sneasel?" asked Kyle. Sneasel squeaked and nodded back to its trainer.  
"Let's go use Slash!" Sneasel charged.  
Litleo fired an ember attack. It hit Sneasel head on but Sneasel still continued and slashed Litleo.  
"Slash again!"  
Litleo dodged it and tackled Sneasel. "Icy Wind!" Sneasel's gust hit Litleo but it didn't look too effective.  
"Wow Litleo is strong" commented Erika.  
"Well against Ice type moves it is" corrected Nick.  
Litleo fired ember again. "Protect" Sneasel blocked the fire attack.  
"Now Slash!" Sneasel charged. Litleo also began to charge at Sneasel. It's teeth began to ooze flames.  
"It's going to use Fire Fang" said Nick.  
Sneasel aimed one claw. Litleo bit down on it and used Fire Fang. Sneasel screamed in pain.  
"Finish it!" Sneasel used its free claw to slash Litleo over and over until it passed out.  
"Pokeball go!" Kyle threw his Pokeball and captured Litleo.  
"Yes! Litleo is mine" He held out his Pokeball. Sneasel and Erika cheered.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: The Feelings of Pokemon

The gang reached the outskirts of the forest. Although it was still quite a distance from them, they could see a large city. The buildings and concrete stood out amongst the trees and plains.  
"Is that what I think it is?" Erika cried excitedly.  
"Yup Santalune city" confirmed Kyle.  
"Haha We're just a day away" said Nick.

Erika laid the picnic blanket out before them and sat down. "Great let's celebrate with some lunch?" she said.

The boys nodded. Nick and Kyle watched as Erika stirred something with a pleasant aroma from a large pot. "That smells great" remarked Nick.  
"Almost ready" she said.  
She filled a spoon with porridge from the pot. She put it up against her nose.  
Suddenly a shadow figure dashed out of the bushes and chomped on the spoon.  
"AAAH" she yelled.  
The figure sucked the food from the spoon and dropped the spoon to the floor.  
"What is that?!" screamed Erika.  
The boys joined her. They saw that the Pokemon was a Mawile.  
It blushed as it munched on the soup in its mouth. Then Mawile grabbed the pot of stew an started eating from it.  
"Hey, NO! Stop!" shouted Erika.  
"It's a Mawile" said Nick.  
"I don't care what it is" Erika was furious "Just get it away from our lunch!"

The bushes rustled and out came a short, stocky girl with low, brown hair.  
"Ha! Found you Mawile!"  
The gang looked at the girl with a puzzled look.

The four teens sat in a circle on the blanket.  
"Sorry about my Mawile" said the mystery girl "my name's Sheila"  
"Haha That's ok, were glad Mawile enjoyed it" said Nick.  
Mawile was sitting next to Sheila looking apologetic.

"Speak for yourself" muttered Erika. She was pouting.  
"You can make it up to us" said Kyle. He had a mischievous grin. "How about a Pokemon battle?"

Sheila stood up quickly, "You bet! I've been itching to battle". Her eyes were fiery.  
"Great" Kyle stood up. "Let's do this" 

Sheila and Mawile stood on one side, Kyle and Litleo on the other.  
"So kyle is trying out Litleo?" Erika said to Nick while they sat on the sidelines.  
"It's their first battle together" Nick confirmed.

"We'll take the first move!" said Sheila.  
"Go for it"  
"Mawile! Use Crunch!" Mawile looked at Litleo. Litleo began to growl at Mawile angrily.  
Mawile began to cry instead.  
"Hey what're you going?" asked Sheila  
"Litleo, Ember" Litleo fired his fire attack and hit Mawile.  
"Get up" ordered Sheila "And use attract!''  
Mawile recovered from the attack and fired pink hearts at Litleo. They hit Litleo.

"What kind of attack is that Nick?" asked Erika.  
"It's a move that causes infatuation in the enemy Pokemon"  
Litleo seemed unfazed by the attack.  
"Nothing happened?" asked Sheila  
"Well whattaya know" said Nick. Erika looked puzzled.  
Kyle smirked. "Surprise surprise, Litleo I had no idea you were a girl?"  
Litleo looked over at Kyle and smiled.  
"Now use tackle!" Kyle ordered.  
Litleo tackled Mawile and knocked it down again.  
"Get up you stupid thing!" shouted Sheila.

"She's not very nice" muttered Erika.

Mawile did as it was told although it looked exhausted.  
"Now! Use Flash Cannon!" The large mouth attached to Mawile pointed at Litleo, it opened and fired a large white beam.  
"Dodge!" ordered Kyle. Litleo stood still and took the hit. It came out of it damaged but still standing.  
"Why didn't it dodge?" asked Erika  
Litleo looked at Kyle. 'I know you heard me' thought Kyle. 'So why didn't you dodge?'  
Litleo looked straight at Kyle's eyes. Kyle looked at Litleo then something clicked. "I see"

"Mawile Flash Cannon one more time!" ordered Sheila.  
Mawile fired the attack once again. "Litleo! Fire Fang" ordered Kyle.  
Litleo ran at Mawile and took the Flah Cannon once again. It emerged from the attack even more hurt but still charged at Mawile with its fangs ablaze.  
It clutched at Mawile's hand and crunched down with fiery talons.  
Mawile screamed in pain until was knocked out.  
"No!" Sheila ran to Mawile

Kyle came to Litleo and picked it up. "Good work" he smiled at the Pokemon. Litleo roared happily.

The gang sat and watched as Nick bandaged up Mawile.  
"There you go" he said as he finished. "Good as new" Mawile smiled gratefully.  
"What're you smiling about" said Sheila. "You lost!" Mawile looked depressed.  
"hey, ease up" said Kyle as he sat with Litleo. "You're pushing Mawile too hard"  
"He's right" said Nick "You have to work with Mawile not make it work"  
Erika looked at the depressed Pokemon. "Oh I kno!" she threw a Pokeball and summoned Chespin.  
It gave her an angry look.  
"Chespin, I want you to meet Mawile"  
Chespin walked over at Mawile. They both stared at each other. Then Chespin began vine whipping Mawile.  
"Hey!" shouted Sheila. "That's enough!" her scream froze Chespin, it ran over and hid behind Erika shaking.  
"wow, I've never seen Chespin that scared" said Nick.  
"What were you hoping to accomplish Erika?" asked Kyle.  
"I just thought Mawile could use a friend" she crouched near Mawile. "There there" she pet it.  
"It's ok you did the best you could"  
Mawile looked soothed as Erika pet it.  
"with a soft attitude like that no wonder you're Chespin won't listen to you" said Sheila with her arms crossed.  
"It seems like both of you have trouble synching with your Pokemon" said Nick.  
"That's because you're both stubborn" said Kyle has he brushed Litleo.

"Excuse me!" Both girls looked at Kyle simultaneously.  
"haha, he may be right. After all think about that last battle" said Nick. "Remember that Litleo woudn't obey Kyle. He wouldn't dodge the flash cannon" he turned to Kyle "But you still ended up winning"  
The girls thought for a moment  
"That's right!" said Erika  
"He lost control for a moment" said Sheila "But he regained it and got Litleo to win"  
The girls then bowed on the ground in front of Kyle "Please teach us oh great one!" said the two girls.  
Kyle stood up "Fine but It'll take rigorous training! Are you two ready for that?"  
"Yes sir!" they said.

Nick was roaming through bushes in the forest.  
He stopped in bush, hidden from the open, to witness a flock of Fletchling grazing together.  
He took his camera and started taking shots quietly. One Fletchling looked up and spotted him. It looked angered.

"Alright" said Kyle from the sidelines. Erika and Sheila stood facing each other with their Pokemon by their side. "I want you two to pay close attention to your Pokemon as you battle each other"  
The girls nodded.  
"Me first!" shouted Sheila. "Mawile! Use Crunch!" Mawile looked at Chespin. Mawile then gulped and ran at Chespin.  
"Chespin Vine Whip!" ordered Erika. Chespin fired Pin Missile instead and pushed Mawile backwards.  
"Chespin! I said Vine Whip" Erika looked down at Chespin. Chespin stuck out its tongue at her.

"Mawile! You gotta be faster!" shouted Sheila. Mawile sat on the ground looking defeated.  
"Wait" said Erika. "Did you see the look on Mawile's face before it attacked? I don't think it wanted to use Crunch"  
Kyle smiled.  
"Who cares?" said Sheila "I give the orders!"  
"Yea but…" Erika looked down at her bored-looking Chespin "It just occurred to me that maybe the Pokemon might not agree with our orders"

Sheila looked confused.  
"Maybe" continued Erika. "We aren't considering their feelings" Erika walks towards Mawile and kneels down to eye level. "Mawile, you don't like close range attacks do you?" Mawile shakes its head furiously. A huge grin on its face from finally being understood.  
Sheila looked baffled. Erika grinned back at Mawile "I knew it!"  
Kyle stepped forward. "So you finally got it." He said. "When Litleo wouldn't dodge, I realized that it's not Litleo's style to dodge. So I adjusted my strategy to match Litleo's" he looked back at Sheila "Pokemon are living things too, we need to consider how they feel about battling in our specific styles not force them into battling our way"  
Sheila crossed her arms.  
Erika patted Mawile again. Mawile smiled at her.

"Aaaah!" Nick ran out of the bushes and tripped in front of the group.  
"Nick!" stood Erika alerted.  
"What happened?" asked Kyle.  
He looked up at them "I may need a little help guys"  
Suddenly the rustling in the bushes got louder and the flock of fletchling shot out of the bushes and hovered over the gang.  
"What are they?" Erika took out her Pokedex  
FLETCHLING: THE TINY BIRD POKEMON. FLETCHLING ARE TERRITORIAL POKEMON. TRAVELERS SHOULD BE WARY OF LARGE FLOCKS.

"What did you do to them?" asked Sheila  
"I was just taking some photos of them" said Nick "But I guess they didn't like that"  
The flock charged all at once at the gang.  
"Litleo use ember!" commanded Kyle. Litleo fired its fire attack.  
"Yanmega" Nick summoned Yanmega. "Use Sonicboom" Yanmega fired its soundwave.  
The two attacks hit the flock. Some Fletchling flew back into the forest. The rest took a moment to recover from the attacks.  
"There's too many!" said Erika.  
"We need to help" Said Sheila "Mawile use Flash Cannon" Mawile looked confused as to where to fire. There were Fletchling everywhere. A small portion of the flock came down and started pecking Mawile instead.  
"Mawile I said use Flash Cannon!" shouted Sheila angrily.  
Mawile just closed its eyes and covered itself as it kept getting pecked.  
"No Mawile" Erika shouted as she took control. "Use crunch instead"  
The teens looked shocked as Mawile opened its eyes and used its giant mouth to bite at the flying Pokemon. Every Fletchling hit by Crunch immediately flew away and after a few swings of its mouth back and forth Mawile got rid of its attackers.  
"No way" muttered Sheila

"Haha way to go Mawile" said Nick.  
Erika ran up and gave Mawile another pat. "That was amazing" Mawile blushed at hearing the praise.  
The Fletchling surrounded Erika and Mawile now.  
"Chespin, I need you" shouted Erika. Chespin looked bored sitting by a tree.  
Sheila grabbed it and held it out towards the Fletchling  
"You listen hear, You're gonna help us out right now. You Got Me?!" Chespin got frightened and nodded slowly.  
"Good now use Pin Missile" Chespin fired its missiles and hit the flock.  
"Yanmega wing attack" Yanmega charged in and hit the Fletchling one by one.  
"Litleo ember" Litleo fired at several Fletchling.  
"Mawile finish them off with Flash Cannon!" Mawile fired the blast several times to hit the remaining Fletchling. Suddenly, the entire flock had retreated.

They cheered.  
Erika hugged Mawile and it hugged her back.  
"you did a great job" she said.

Sheila still held Chespin.  
It looked up at her. She smiled "Not half bad but you could do better" Chespin looked down and crossed its arms.  
"Nice work ladies" said Kyle. "Now about your training. I think I've found a solution that'll help everyone"

The sky was pitch black as the gang arrived in the city. The lights from the buidlings filled the streets.  
They arrived at the Pokemon center.  
"Santalune city" said Erika "I can't believe we made it"  
They followed Kyle through the center as he searched for something.  
"It's a beautiful city, and we won't have to sleep in sleeping bags on the cold floor tonight" said Nick.  
"Hey Kyle, where are we going?" asked Sheila

"Ah ha!" Kyle stopped in front of a machine.  
"This is it"  
The gang looked at it curiously. "I realized" said Kyle "That you girls have specific styles of raising Pokemon, Erika is more timid and patient while Shelia is tough and pushy. Normally I'd encourage you to get yourselves synched to your Pokemon like I did with Litleo but-"

"I see" interrupted Nick "You think they their partners are better at adapting the other's style"  
The girls looked confused. "This is a trade machine" said Nick.  
The girls looked at each other then at their Pokeballs. "You mean trade Pokemon with each other" said Erika.  
"I never thought about it" said Sheila.  
They both looked at each other one more time.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: The Ice Field Photo shoot

"Guys! Guys!" Nick came running into the Pokemon center.  
He found Kyle and Erika having Breakfast with their Pokemon at a booth.  
"What are you so excited about so early in the morning?" asked Kyle.  
Erika poured more Pokemon food in the bowls on the floor.  
Sneasel, Litleo, Tentacool, and her new Mawile were eating happily.  
Nick sat next to Kyle as he pulled pieces of paper from his shorts pockets.  
"My client, the one who asked for my Linoone Picture was so happy with my work he gave me tickets to tonight's Santalune photo gallery show" Nick waved the tickets back and forth.  
"That's pretty cool" said Nick while chewing.  
"What should I wear?" asked Erika.  
"Haha, that's not important. What is important is that we meet my Idol" Nick looked off into the distance.  
"Idol?" Kyle and Erika looked at him confused.

The gallery was packed with tons of well-dressed, high class people. They were all gathered around portraits hung on every wall.  
The gang walked in and gasped. They felt severely underdressed.  
Except for Nick he walked right up to the first photo on the wall closest to them.  
They broke through the crowd to see a large photo of a Caterpie on a leaf eating a berry.  
Kyle and Erika looked at it. Then they looked at each other.  
"This is it?" asked Erika.  
"Look" Kyle pointed at Nick next to them.  
He was staring at the photo in amazement. He looked like a statue, unmoving except he would gasp from time to time.  
"Nick you think this is good?" asked Erika.  
"Good!" Nick snapped at them. "This is an original Viola! An amazing photographer and the best at taking photos of Bug-type Pokemon"  
The teens looked at the photo again.  
"Still doesn't look like much to me" muttered Erika.  
"You said you were going to meet your idol" said Kyle to Nick "Were you talking about Viola?"  
Nick nodded. "Yea, I've worshipped her since I first became a photographer. In fact I even wanted to raise a Bug-type just like her. That's when I started raising a Yanma that eventually became my Yanmega"  
"Wow" said Kyle. Erika left the crowd. Nick and Kyle followed.  
"We have to see more" said Nick to Kyle.  
"Guys" Erika was looking across the room "I heard that Viola is here getting interviewed over there" she pointed at the largest crowd in the center of the gallery. They couldn't see past the crowd but the people were very excited.  
"No….Way!" Nick froze again and started getting red as well.

Viola was answering questions and writing autographs simultaneously. The crowd was surrounding her with no exit in sight. The three teenagers pushed through the crowd to reach her, Kyle and Erika pulled Nick together as they reached Viola.  
"NO!" screamed Nick. "I'm not worthy"  
"Don't be ridiculous" said Kyle. Erika let go of Nick and walked right up to Viola.  
"Hi there, Viola right?" asked Erika.  
Viola smiled and said "Yes, welcome. Are you enjoying the show?"  
"Yea you take great pictures, my name is Erika" she points to her friends "and these are my friends Kyle and Nick"  
"Hello" said Kyle  
"H-h-h-hi" Nick stuttered and began to sweat all together.  
"Well I'm so glad" Viola ignored the rest of the crowd as she talked to Erika. Nobody interrupted them.  
"Nick here is also a photographer, and a really big fan of yours" said Erika  
"FAN?!" Nick jumped forward to face Viola "You are my idol" he takes out an album of photos "I've followed your work on bug Pokemon since the beginning, you're talent cannot be surpassed"  
"Aw" Viola blushed "That's sweet of you to say"  
"Here" Kyle held out another album at Viola "These are Nick's pictures, why don't you take a look?"  
"WHAT?!" Nick screamed "Where'd you get those?"  
"Took em from your bag when you weren't looking"  
Viola grabbed the album and started scanning the pages quietly.  
Nick was shaking. "No wait their not-"  
"Amazing!" said Viola. "These really capture Pokemon in their natural environment and every detail is so refined, you've got some talent"  
Kyle and Erika smiled at each other. Nick turned tomato red.

"Nick" Viola closed the album and held it firmly against her chest.  
"Will you please have a Pokemon battle with me?"  
The gang looked surprised "A battle?" confirmed Nick  
"Yes you see I love Pokemon photography and Pokemon battles. I am also the Santalune city gym leader. Your photos were so excellent I'd love to see your battling style too. You're such an amazing photographer I'd bet you're also a great trainer" Viola jumped in excitement.  
Nick grinned from ear to ear "I accept your challenge! It is my dream to be a top class photographer and Pokemon trainer so beating my idol would bring me one step closer to that goal. Let's do it!"

The night sky was quiet and dark. The city lights shone on the outdoor battlefield behind the gallery. The guests had gathered in the balcony as Viola and Nick made their way to opposite ends of the battlefield.  
Kyle and Erika sat on a bench next to the field.  
"What's a gym leader?" asked Erika  
"Haven't you heard?" Kyle began "They're expert trainers. Stronger than regular trainers and work for the Pokemon league. This won't be easy"  
Erika looked worried.

"Alright Nick, Here I come" Viola threw a Pokeball and summoned a Vivillon .  
"Wow! A Vivillon!" Nick began taking photos of the bug Pokemon "It's incredible, lovely, superb"  
Kyle sighed "that loser" he muttered.  
"What's a Vivillon?" Erika checked her Pokedex:  
VIVILLON: THE FINAL EVOLVED FORM OF SCATTERBUG. VIVILLON POLLENATE FLOWERS IN FORESTS AND THEIR WINGS VARY IN COLOR DEPENDING ON WHERE THEY EVOLVED.

"Now" Nick held his own Pokeball  
"Here's my partner" he summoned Yanmega.  
"Wow!" said Viola "A Yanmega" she began to take pictures as well. "It's beautiful, strong, well-raised"

Kyle sighed. "Not her too"  
"Te he he" Erika giggled "They're really passionate about photography"

"Alright Nick, you can start us off" said Viola.  
Nick nodded "Ready Yanmega?" Yanmega nodded back at Nick.  
"Good, let's start things off with Sonicboom" Yanmega fired the sound blast and hit Vivillon.  
"Yes!" cheered Nick.  
Vivillon was pained but recovered. Viola smiled "That was a strong attack"  
"We're just getting warmed up, Sonicboom again!" ordered Nick  
Yanmega struck Vivillon again. "Follow up with Wing Attack"  
Yanmega charged with glowing wings and hit Vivillon once again. This time Vivillon hit the floor.  
The crowd gasped. Vivillon cried in pain.

"Yes!" Cheered Erika "Nick's gonna win in not time. Go Yanmega!"  
Kyle looked puzzled "No" he muttered "This is just getting started"

"Viola!" said Nick "My Yanmega is the fastest Bug-Pokemon there is, don't you agree?"  
Viola smiled. "Vivillon use Moonlight"  
Vivillon began to glow. The glow healed all its wounds and left Vivillon flying happily and looking refreshed.  
Everyone was surprised.  
"What happened?" asked Erika.  
"Moonlight" explained Kyle "A move that heals Pokemon"  
Nick looked worried "I should've known you had a plan" he clenched his fist "But I'm not giving up, Yanmega Quick Attack!"  
Yanmega charged in and hit Vivillon again. "Vivillon, Stun Spore!"  
Vivillon released small yellow particles from its wings immediately following Yanmega's attack.  
Yanmega looked pained.

"What's wrong with Yanmega?" asked Erika  
"Seriously" Kyle never looked away from the battle "Don't you know anything? Yanmega was just paralyzed. Viola's just been playing around with Nick"  
Erika's worried look returned "Oh no"

"Vivillon Gust" Vivillon flapped its wings so hard that a gust of wind ran towards Yanmega  
"Climb!" Ordered Nick. Yanmega flew above the current.  
"Gust one more time" ordered Viola. Vivillon climbed to reach Yanmega and fired its gust again.  
"Dive!" countered Nick. Yanmega positioned itself to dive but static waves prevented it from moving.  
"Oh No!" cried Nick. The gust hit Yanmega and blew it away. It recovered in Mid-air but Yanmega was starting to look exhausted.  
"This isn't good, I've got to come up with something" said Nick.  
'so this is the strength of a Gym leader' thought Kyle.  
"Vivillon Gust!" ordered Viola  
"Yanmega AncientPower" countered Kyle. Gust hit Yanmega. AncientPower hit Vivillon.  
"Moonlight" commanded Viola. Vivillon glowed again and recovered any damages.  
The crowd was cheering for Viola.  
Yanmega was on the floor of the field. It was gasping for breath.  
"Now what?" asked Nick to himself.  
"Nick!" called out Kyle. The trainers looked at Kyle on the bench.

"Her strategy to paralyze and heal is for slowing down opponent's drastically. Yanmega can't win with its current attack power. You have to rely on Yanmega's speed"  
'But how' Nick looked back at Viola 'She has me cornered'  
"Your move Nick" Viola said confidently.  
"Alright Yanmega use AncientPower" Yanmega fired its orb once again.  
"Vivillon Signal Beam!" Vivillon shot a rainbow beam from its mouth. It destroyed the ancienpower and continued until it hit Yanmega.  
Yanmega fell to the floor.  
"No!" Cried Nick.  
The crowd watched intently.  
Erika and Kyle now stood looking more worried than before.  
"Yanmega!" cried Nick.

Yanmega was still.  
"no…" Nick was choked up. He looked at his fallen Pokemon one more time.

Suddenly, Yanmega began to move. It started to flap its wings. It struggled but managed to get up looking more exhausted than ever before "Yanmega?" Nick was surprised.  
"Let's finish this Vivillon" Viola commanded.  
Vivillon began charging energy to fire Signal Beam.  
Nick suddenly ran to the field and picked up his Yanmega and held it in its arms.  
"That's enough" he said.  
Vivillon stopped.  
"We forfeit" Nick looked at Viola. "You win".  
He then looked down at the Pokemon in his arms "I'm so sorry Yanmega, I pushed you so hard" he began to shed tears.  
The Pokemon flew out of his arms and sat on Nick's head. It flapped excitedly despite all the bruises and scratches. Nick wiped his tears "You forgive me?"  
Yanmega cried loudly in confimartion.  
"Haha You're the best" said Nick.

Viola came over and offered her hand. "That was a great battle" she said "Yanmega fought very hard you should be proud"  
Nick took it. "Thanks Viola. I may not be as great a trainer or photographer as you but I'm gonna work hard to be as good as you someday"  
Viola grinned "Let's have a rematch someday"

Erika and Kyle joined them.  
"Great battle Nick" said Kyle.  
"Yea and you too Yanmega" she patted the bug Pokemon. It seemed to enjoy that.  
"Haha Thanks guys" Nick blushed.

"Viola" Kyle turned towards Viola.  
"That was an impressive battle, If I may" he bowed "I would like to challenge your gym"  
Viola smiled "Now now no need for that" he got up.  
"I'd be happy to accept your challenge Kyle. Come by the gym tomorrow I'll give you an awesome battle" Viola looked fired up.  
Kyle grinned "Perfect" he too looked fired up.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: The Infestation

The gang stood outside the Santalune Gym.  
"Let's get this started" shouted Kyle excitedly.  
"What are you so pumped about?" cried Erika.  
"Sorry, that battle yesterday had me really pumped I can't wait to battle Viola"  
Kyle ran in leaving his friends outside.  
"Do you think he can win?" asked Erika.  
"Haha Who knows, but one thing I've learned is that Viola won't make it easy"  
They walked into the gym.

Kyle and his friends were surprised to see a forest inside the building, it had a glass ceiling and trees as far as the eye can see.  
"Hellooo?" cried Kyle "Viola!"  
They started walking through the trees. "What an awesome place to raise Bug Pokemon" commented Nick.  
Suddenly, a Scatterbug fell in front of Erika. She looked down at it.  
"AAAAH" She threw it to the floor. "What is that gross thing?!" she asked.  
"That's a Scatterbug" said Nick  
"What's with that reaction?" asked Kyle.  
Erika shakily drew her Pokedex.  
SCATTERBUG: THE WORM POKEMON. IT CAN RELEASE THREAD THAT HELPS IT SWING FROM TREE TO TREE. IT IS THE PRE-EVOLVE FORM OF SPEWPA WHICH THEN EVOLVES INTO VIVILLON.

"That gross thing evolves into Vivillon? But" Erika looked at it closely "It's so gross" the Scatterbug looked angry and used stringshot to cover her hair. "Aaaah!"  
"Scatterbug!" Suddenly, Viola emerged from the trees and picked up the Scatterbug  
"Bad Scatterbug, these are our guests" Scatterbug looked apologetic. "Sorry about that Erika"  
Erika touched her sticky hair disgustedly.  
"Don't worry about it, she deserved it" said Kyle. Erika threw a nasty look at him.  
"Now Viola, I'm here for my gym battle"  
Viola nodded "That's right, Can't wait. Follow me to the battlefield" The gang followed her into the forest.

They came to a clearing where a laid out battle field was marked by chalk lines.  
Viola went to stand on the opposite side of the field, she set down Scatterbug.  
"You ready?" she asked.  
Kyle stepped to the field to face her. "Ready"  
Viola took out a Pokeball "The official rules of the Santalune gym are 2 versus 2, when one of use beat both of the other's Pokemon the battle is over. Got it?"  
"2 on 2" confimed Kyle. "Got it"

Nick and Erika stood on the sidelines.  
"I wonder what kind of Pokemon Viola will use other than Vivillon?" asked Erika.  
"I'm more curious about what Strategy Kyle will use" said Nick "Viola's not a regular trainer"

Viola threw her Pokeball "Here's my first choice, Surskit"  
The Ball summoned a Surskit. It looked eager to battle.

"Wow cutie!" Erika drew her Pokedex again  
SURSKIT: THIS POKEMON CAN SKI THROUGH WATER AND HAS THE CHARACTERISTICS OF BUG AND WATER POKEMON. IT EASILY AVOIDS ENEMY ATTACKS WITH ITS IMPRESSIVE SPEED.

"A water-bug Pokemon" confimed Kyle. He threw his own Pokeball. "Go!"  
He summoned Litleo.  
Erika, Nick, and Viola were surprised.  
"A fire-type?" asked Nick "But it'll be at a disadvantage"  
Litleo looked eager to battle as well.  
"Like I always said" Kyle looked calm. "Winning by type advantage is so boring"  
Viola smiled "My, aren't we confident"

Litleo roared and shook Surskit a bit.  
"And your Litleo looks fired up!" said Viola "Alright Kyle you may have the first move"  
"Alright Litleo Ember" Litleo fired its attack. It hit Surskit. Surskit seemed unfazed.  
"Now it's our turn" said Viola, "Water Pulse!" Surskit fired a blue orb of water at Litleo.  
"Dodge!" ordered Kyle. Litleo just stood there bracing itself and took the hit. It looked unsteady.

"That's right" said Nick. "Litleo doesn't like to dodge"  
Erika looked at Nick worriedly "But how's it going to get past Surskit's water-type moves"

"Litleo!" Litleo looked at its trainer "I understand how you feel but if you don't trust me we can't win"  
Litleo shook its head in disobedience. It fired an ember attack. The attack landed but Surskit again looked unfazed. Litleo looked surprised.  
"Water Pulse Surskit!" Surskit fired its attack again.  
"Dodge!" ordered Kyle but again Litleo stood its ground and got hit again. This time it looked more tired than before as it got up.  
"Litleo! Please listen to me, I'm trying to help!" cried Kyle. Litleo looked back at Kyle unsure of what to do.  
"Surskit, Water Pulse one more time" Surskit launched the attack again.  
"Dodge!" shouted Kyle. Litleo dove out of the way at last.  
"Litleo did it!" cheered Erika.  
"Yea! It must finally trust Kyle" confirmed Nick.

"Now Litleo use tackle!" Litleo charged and hit Surskit. This time Surskit flinched in pain.  
"Water Pulse!" ordered Viola.  
"Oh no!" cried Nick "From such close range!"

"Fire Fang" ordered Kyle. As Surskit raised its antennae to create the Water Pulse, Litleo bit down on one of the antennae with burning fangs. It stopped Surskit and caused pained look on Surskit as well.  
"Oh no Surskit!" cried Viola.  
Kyle smiled, "My Litleo can handle water Pokemon just fine"  
Viola smiled "Well then, Playtime's over"  
Kyle looked confused.  
"Surskit use Screech"  
The sound wave emitted from Surskit was so loud that Litleo immediately let go and ran away from Surskit.  
"Water Pulse!"  
"Dodge!" Litleo dodged again.  
"Let's switch it up! Surskit use Ice Beam" Surskit fired an Ice beam at the ground and froze the entire floor of the battlefield.  
"Oh no!" the gang said Simultaneously.  
Litleo was unsteady on its feet. It easily slipped on the ice.  
"Now Quick Attack!" ordered Viola. Surskit charged at Litleo and hit it in a flash.  
Litleo tried to get up but as soon as it did it slipped again on the ice.

"This is bad, the ice is causing too many problems with Litleo's footing" said Nick.  
"hang in there Litleo!" cheered Erika.

"Quick Attack!" Surskit charged again.  
"Fire Fang!" countered Kyle, however Surskit hit Litleo and fell back far too quickly for Litleo. It missed.  
"We've got to do something about this ice" said Kyle.  
"I know, Litleo use Ember!"  
"A long range attack would be smart" said Viola "But a fire attack is worthless against my Surskit"  
Then she noticed that Litleo used ember on the ice and began to melt patches of ice on the field.  
The grass appeared again in several holes where Litleo fired its ember attack.  
"Oh I see, very clever. But not clever enough! Surskit non-stop Quick Attacks" ordered Viola.  
"Tackle" Litleo stood on one of the patches of grass and when Surskit hit it Litleo hit back with Tackle.  
Surskit looked just as damaged as Litleo now. However, the tackle drew Litleo to the ice where it slipped again.  
"Finish it!" commanded Viola. Surskit charged again and hit Litleo again.  
Litleo fainted.

"Oh no!" said Nick Sadly.  
"They tried so hard" said Erika.  
Kyle returned Litleo and smiled at his Pokeball, "excellent work" he said. He drew another Pokeball and threw it. Sneasel emerged.  
"Well like you said, Playtime's over Viola" he said.

Nick and Erika were surprised at his comment.  
Viola grinned "Good, then let's get started"

"Sneasel! Slash attack" Sneasel, while expertly skating on the ice field, charged at Surskit.  
"Surskit, Quick attack!" countered Viola. Surskit skidded at Sneasel with incredible speed.  
The two collided and pushed each other back.  
"Surskit! Water Pulse" Surskit fired its water pulse at Sneasel.  
"Sneasel Icy wind" the gust of ice and the orb of water collided in an even match as well.  
"My" said Viola, "What a stalemate"  
"We'll see, Sneasel Metal Claw!" Sneasel's claws began to glow.  
"Surskit! Quick attack" Surskit charged rapidly.  
"Gotcha!" shouted Kyle excitedly "Sneasel aim for the ground!"  
Sneasel used its metal claws to pound the ice beneath him. It slashed so hard that large chunks of ice were flying at Surskit and stopped its quick attack.  
"Oh no Surskit!" cried Viola  
"No reason we can't both use the ice field right?" Kyle was pleased with himself.

"Wow that was so smart! Go Kyle Go Sneasel" cheered Erika.

"Sneasel finish this up! Slash attack!" Sneasel charged in and slashed Surskit. Surskit fainted.  
Nick and Erika cheered.  
"Wow, that was pretty good Kyle" Viola returned Surskit. "I never expected my own ice field to backfire like that, impressive" she held out another Pokeball "but now you face" she threw it.  
"Vivillon". Vivillon emerged.

"Let's do it Sneasel"  
"Sneee" cried Sneasel confidently.  
"Use Icy Wind!"  
"Block Vivillon, use Gust"  
The two wind attacks collided evenly.  
"Stun Spore!" cried Viola.

"Watch out Kyle" warned Nick.  
"Dodge" ordered Kyle, Sneasel skidded away from the cloud of powder.  
"Vivillon! Signal Beam!" Vivillon fired a rainbow beam and hit Sneasel as it tried to flee.  
"No! Sneasel" cried Kyle.

"This is really bad" said Nick.  
"Yea it's just like the battle with you!"  
"No, worse" Erika looked at him. "Yanmega and Vivillon are bug Pokemon, but Sneasel is a dark type. It's weak against bug Pokemon"  
Erika looked frightened "Oh no!" she cried.

Sneasel got up.  
"Are you ok?" asked Kyle  
Sneasel had a lot of scratches and was out of breath but it nodded at its trainer.  
"Wow, Impressive" said Viola. "You're Pokemon are really tough Kyle"  
Kyle looked worried. 'Darn, she's much tougher than I gave her credit for. So this is the strength of a Gym leader'

"Alright Vivillon! Stun Spore!" Vivillon produced another dust cloud of powder.  
"Dodge!" Sneasel fled again.  
"Signal Beam!"  
"Watch out!" called Kyle desperately. Sneasel skated faster than before. The beam hit the ice, barely missing Sneasel.  
"That was a close one" Kyle muttered.  
"If it isn't broke, Vivillon use Stun Spore" Vivillon fired its powder again.  
"Sneasel, use Icy Wind to block" Sneasel's Icy wind broke apart the stun spore and hit Vivillon.

"Yes!" cheered Erika.  
"They broke through the Stun Spore, way to go!"

"Vivillon, Moonlight" Vivillon recovered.  
"Darn" cursed Kyle. Sneasel looked more tired.  
"Sneasel Slash!" Sneasel jumped towards Vivillon.  
"Gust" ordered Viola, the wind knocked Sneasel back onto the ice.  
It got up while looking more exhausted.

'Darn' thought Kyle, 'does that Vivillon have any weaknesses?'  
"Vivilllon! Let's finish this!" said Viola.  
'Let's see, the only attack that landed was Icy Wind' thought Kyle 'And it healed. Interesting'  
"Use Signal Beam" ordered Viola.  
"Protect" countered Kyle. Sneasel blocked Vivillon with its barrier.  
Vivillon's beam was steady as it hit the barrier, Vivillon started hovering closer to Sneasel trying to force the beam through the barrier.  
"Keep your distance Vivillon" ordered Viola.  
"Distance!" Shouted Kyle, Everyone looked at him confused. "That's it!"

The beam subsided and the barrier fell.  
"Signal Beam!" Vivillon fired.  
"Dodge then use slash" Sneasel jumped up and dodged the beam as it made its way to Vivillon.  
"Switch to Gust" Viola began to sweat.  
Vivillon launched the wind attack. "Use Icy Wind, aim below you!" countered Kyle.  
Sneasel looked down at the icy field while mid-air and fired it's icy wind. The wind propelled Sneasel higher into the air, making it out of range of Vivillon's gust attack.

"Wow!" Erika and Nick were awed.

"Slash! And make it good!" Sneasel landed its slash attack on Vivillon and dragged it down to the field.  
"Vivillon!" cried Viola. "Get out of there!"  
Vivillon squirmed under Sneasel as Sneasel continued to slash away at Vivillon.  
"Use Moonlight" ordered Viola.  
Vivillon could not obey while Sneasel kept slashing at Vivillon.  
"Don't let up!" ordered Kyle. Sneasel kept slashing over and over.

"No Vivillon!" Viola was in a panic.  
"I figured you out Viola" Kyle was grinning mischievously. "Vivillon is a powerhouse at long range attacks, so it needs to keep its distance from its enemies"  
Sneasel kept slashing.  
"But without that distance to keep it safe, you can't react to what your opponent will do, you can't even heal"  
Vivillon squealed in pain.  
"You lost the moment we made contact" Kyle concluded.  
Vivillon gave one last cry and fainted.

"Yea!" Nick and Erika cheered.  
Sneasel dropped to the floor exhausted.  
Viola returned Vivillon.  
Kyle walked over to Sneasel and looked down at it as Sneasel laid on the ground. Kyle kneeled down and patted the Pokemon on its head.  
He grinned. Sneasel grinned back.

"That was a great battle!" cried Viola excitedly "Kyle you're an amazing trainer"  
Kyle blushed.  
"Yea way to go Kyle" said Erika.  
"You were awesome" said Nick.  
"Here" Viola held out a gym badge. "This is the official Pokemon league Bug Badge, you've earned this"  
"A bug badge?" questioned Kyle.  
"Gym badges are given to trainers as proof of their victories over gym leaders" said Nick.  
Kyle took the badge and held it out. "Then I'll keep it. Thank you Viola" he put the badge away and bowed. 


End file.
